ROI-Bond storm, Trump's diesel gambit and the Muse effect: The financial week in five charts

Every Friday, Reuters Open Interest (ROI) distills the financial week into ​five key charts, spotlighting the major trends, surprises and overlooked moves that defined the past ​five days. 1. BONDS BOMB

MIKE DOLAN, ROI Finance & Markets Columnist: Just ‌as ​some investors were wondering whether it was time to return to battered bond markets, a fresh rout this week offered a clear answer: not yet. Government bond yields soared to new multi-decade highs on Wednesday and Thursday, aggravated by hot US business activity data, rising government debt concerns and oil ‌prices climbing back into triple-digit territory.

The selloff rippled around the world, with the 30-year US Treasury yield surging to its highest level in 22 years and Japan's 10-year yield hitting its highest point in 30 years. 2. AMUSED?

ANNA SZYMANSKI, ROI Editor-in-Charge: Meta's new AI assistant Muse clocked some 2.5 million downloads in the first 13 days after its launch, approaching ChatGPT's 3.1 million over the equivalent period. The tool's rapid uptake helped reignite ‌AI enthusiasm early in the week, with Meta shares surging more than 11% on Monday. Chip stocks rallied in the slipstream, driving the Nasdaq to a record closing high and making AMD ‌the latest chipmaker to top $1 trillion in market value.

But even as Muse lifts stocks exposed to the AI infrastructure buildout, it is also weighing on financial and online travel stocks, with investors fretting that its shopping and travel-booking abilities could help consumers find lower-cost alternatives and challenge incumbents. 3. FUELLING CHAOS

RON BOUSSO, ROI Energy Columnist: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threw his support behind the idea of restricting diesel exports, sending global oil and diesel markets into turmoil. The strong reaction reflected the critical ⁠role the ​US plays in the diesel market, particularly since the ⁠start of the Iran war. Today, it accounts for roughly one-fifth of global seaborne diesel exports, after a more than 20% rise from 2025 levels to around 1.3 million barrels per day this year, according to Kpler.

By Wednesday afternoon, the White ⁠House was partly rowing back on the president's statements suggesting that it would prefer to work with US refiners in a "simpler, voluntary, cooperative fashion" to increase production - but global energy markets remain on edge. While a diesel export ban ​might deliver a short-lived drop in US prices, it would almost certainly create bigger problems elsewhere and ultimately lead to even higher prices in the US. 4. POWER SPLIT

JAMIE MCGEEVER, ROI ⁠Markets Columnist: Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet in Washington this week, looking to bridge the significant differences between the world's two superpowers across a range of key issues including trade, AI and defense. No US-China gulf, however, will be wider than ⁠the ​gap between the two countries' bond yields. It's perhaps fitting that on the day of the summit, the spread between the two widened to a record of almost 350 basis points. US borrowing costs are soaring in the face of high inflation, while China's are sliding as the threat of deflation continues to stalk the economy. Neither side appears to be "winning."

5. PUMP VS PLUG GAVIN MAGUIRE, ROI ⁠Global Energy Transition Columnist: Rising electric vehicle (EV) uptake in the US is creating a two-tier fuel market, with some motorists' costs dictated by global oil markets and others by local electricity prices.

The ⁠price spread between the cheapest and most expensive gasoline ⁠markets is roughly $2.17 a gallon, narrower than the $2.30 range in EV charging costs across states. The national average gasoline price is currently around $4.43, some 180% higher than the average cost to recharge a mid-sized EV, with EVs currently beating gasoline across all states in terms of refuelling costs.

Opinions expressed ‌are those of the authors. ‌They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, ​independence, and freedom from bias. (Editing by Marguerita Choy)